


Summer (I'm In Love)

by coffeeorder



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Camp Counsellors, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Unrequited Love, but not unrequited, so warning for assault, the karofsky kiss is discussed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27669070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeeorder/pseuds/coffeeorder
Summary: Five first times Kurt has at summer campor that camp counsellor AU where they are too dumb to realise they are in love with each other
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel
Comments: 38
Kudos: 95





	Summer (I'm In Love)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [i_tripandstumble](https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_tripandstumble/gifts).



> So let's just pretend I didn't get the prompt for this a literal month ago and that all my knowledge of summer camps comes from watching Camp Rock. This one is for [C](https://i-tripandstumble.tumblr.com/) who wanted camp counsellors and unrequited love and "I let you mooch off my netflix and this is how you repay me." 
> 
> I was struggling with how to approach this story so I was idly scrolling through prompts and saw one that was basically "imagine your OTP in different light sources" which served as secondary inspiration. 
> 
> This is written outside my normal style (I think) so I would be curious to know your thoughts. Please heed the warning in the tags and enjoy!
> 
> (Also Blaine is a year older in this because... Just because)

_i. or light and shade_

Kurt doesn’t exactly _want_ to be a junior camp counsellor. He’s sixteen and doesn’t really know what to do with small children and, the camp itself, Camp Evergreen, has the very dubious tagline: For Children Whose Talent is Evergreen. “Talented” kids are just plain terrifying.

Kurt, himself, is only able to be a camp counsellor because he can play the piano. And he’s only there at _all_ because Burt, filled with concern for how lonely and distant his son seemed, had signed him up. After that Kurt was somewhat committed.

The fact that Kurt has since joined Glee and finally found purpose and friendship didn’t really matter. Hummel men did not shirk their commitments. Apparently. Kurt was pretty committed to hanging out at the mall with Mercedes all summer but that didn’t seem to count for some reason.

He tries his best to romanticize the experience in his head but all he can think of is bugs and dirt and limited showers and, when the mini bus that picks him up at the station is clearly held together with duct tape and prayers, he gives up on that thought process altogether.

He feels sick by the time he arrives but can grudgingly admit the camp is quite pretty. Wooden cabins are clustered on the edge of a lake that shimmers appealingly in the late afternoon sun. There doesn’t seem to be any pine or fir trees of anything that looks even vaguely coniferous but, by this point, he’s too annoyed to care about the glaring misnaming of this dumb camp. 

“Hi, my name’s Blaine,” a friendly voice says as Kurt finally stumbles off the death trap bus on wobbly legs.

“Oh. I’m Kurt,” Kurt manages, focusing on who’s talking to him. Wow. OK. Blaine is grinning and _incredibly_ handsome with a tumble of dark curls and warm hazel eyes. He is wearing the unflattering camp polo (green of course) but it doesn’t detract from his sweet smile. He’s holding a guitar and Kurt wonders, for a moment, if he’s accidentally stumbled into a Camp Rock alternative universe where he gets to be Demi Lovato. He could be OK with that.

Blaine strides forward and tweaks the collar of Kurt’s own polo. “Come on, new kid. Let me help you get settled. Then I can show you around.”

God. He’s definitely cuter than any of the Jonas brothers. Maybe Camp Evergreen isn’t so bad after all.

*

Blaine becomes Kurt’s best friend so fast that it’s almost dizzying. There’s something about the atmosphere at camp that seems to accelerate everything to five times faster than the ‘real world’. There’s no initial awkwardness between them. They go from total strangers to complete confidants in the space of two weeks. Kurt honestly feels he could tell Blaine anything.

There’s something special about the way Blaine thinks. He seems to have endless reserves of enthusiasm and passion for all things, no matter how big or small. He’s thoughtful and funny and has an ease with the campers that Kurt kind of envies at first in his own ineffectual fumbling. Then he realizes that dealing with the kids is actually just like dealing with Finn and then he gets much better at it.

The thing he’s not getting better at is suppressing the huge crush he is developing on Blaine. He’s always known in some vague way that he doesn’t like girls. Or at least, not in the way he’s supposed to. But meeting Blaine has really cemented just what that means for him. Because he can’t ignore that the brush of Blaine’s hand is enough to get his heart racing, that when he smiles, it makes Kurt’s breath catch. He has a sudden visceral understanding of all those songs written about crushes and the first fluttering of new love. Because of Blaine. Blaine makes him feel all that and more.

It almost feels natural to come out for the first time to Blaine. He not only trusts Blaine completely, but Blaine is not shy about his own sexuality. After one of the other female counsellors gave him her number, he just smiled and said, “Sorry, not your team.” He carries it with confidence. Kurt is almost awed by it. Comfort in just being who you are is something he’s kind of working on. Blaine appears to have that in spades.

He chooses a moment when they are far away from camp, spending their free time wandering through the nearby woods together. Kurt feels particularly content, watching the warm afternoon sunlight slant through the trees and paint Blaine with gold and shadows in turn. He’s in full flow, arms moving wildly as he talks, and Kurt feels an overwhelming affection for him.

"Blaine," Kurt blurts, cutting off Blaine's passionate but nonsensical (to Kurt, at least) ramble about football. "I need to tell you something."

"Of course," Blaine smiles, not looking put out at the interruption at all. “You can tell me anything.”

Kurt hesitates. It feels harder, now that the moment is actually here. Saying the words out loud will solidify them somehow. Make them irrevocably true in a way they aren’t when they are just sitting in his head.

“I think I’m… No.” He hesitates, tries to collect himself. “I _know_ I’m... gay.” He can’t breathe for a second, the adrenaline making his voice tight and his body shake. Blaine steps close, wrapping Kurt in a hug, letting him work through the sudden panic quietly, just holding him, until Kurt’s body relaxes in his arms.

“Thank you so much for telling me, Kurt.”

“Shit. Sorry. That was a lot scarier in reality than in my head,” Kurt says quietly, holding Blaine tightly. “I mean. I’m sure of what I am. But giving a voice to it is…”

“Terrifying?” Blaine offers and Kurt laughs a little shakily.

“Yeah.”

“Thank you for trusting me with it,” Blaine says, pulling back only enough to look at Kurt’s face, the sincerity radiating out of him.

“I feel like I’ve known you forever,” Kurt says. “Is that weird?”

“It’s not weird. I literally only came here because I thought it would look good on my college applications. But I’m so glad that it actually led me to you.”

Kurt’s breath catches. He’s so unused to genuine kindness from people his own age. Especially boys. He can’t trust his voice so he just nods, hoping his eyes can convey how much he feels the exact same about meeting Blaine.

“Come on,” Blaine says gently, pulling away at last. “We should be getting back.”

Kurt nods again and is grateful when Blaine picks up their easy chatter again as they pick their way through the trees. Nothing has to change. Except, maybe their hands brush a little more than is strictly necessary on the walk back.

_ii. or firelight_

Kurt is seventeen when he gets kissed for the first time. A few first times, actually.

The first is with Brittany and while it gets him to terms with the _mechanics_ of the whole thing, he doesn’t really feel anything. It’s just a bit wet and tastes of bubblegum.

The second… he feels a lot of things and none of it is good.

He doesn’t really talk to Blaine during the year. Their camp life feels separate somehow. Like their friendship can only exist in the summer sun between the lake and woods of Camp Evergreen. They do write letters a few times because it feels more personal, more connected than a text. Kurt likes the feeling of touching the paper that Blaine has touched, brushing a finger over the neat letters on the page.

He returns to Camp Evergreen because Blaine is going to be there and, maybe even beyond that, he enjoyed it a little more than he thought he would.

Blaine literally bounds over to him the second he steps off Death Bus and wraps him in an excited hug.

“This can’t be Kurt Hummel,” he exclaims. “You’ve grown about a foot.”

Kurt laughs. It’s not quite true but he has grown and filled out over the year, giving him a few inches on Blaine. He’s thrilled by the way Blaine fits neatly into his embrace now. Like he’s meant to be there.

*

Blaine notices, somehow. Notices that Kurt retreats into his thoughts at times when their schedule allows for quiet time. He sends worried looks Kurt’s way that Kurt shrugs off until Blaine has the opportunity to talk to him privately when they’re finally unlikely to be interrupted.

They’ve been left alone by the campfire, both partially mesmerized by the dancing light and tired enough that their chatter feels uninhibited. Kurt can’t help but stare at the way the orange light plays across Blaine's face.

“You seem sad,” Blaine comments abruptly. “These last few weeks. Are you OK?”

Kurt opens his mouth to say _I’m fine_ and then closes it again. He can’t lie to Blaine. “I haven’t told anyone this,” he says carefully and Blaine nods like he understands that this is just between them. “But there’s this Neanderthal at school that’s just… been making my life miserable.”

“Oh, Kurt,” Blaine says quietly, and he takes Kurt’s hand, twining their fingers together. It makes Kurt feel brave.

“I’m out now. With my dad and at school. But this guy has taken _issue_ with that, you could say. He’s vicious. Violent.” Kurt shudders, the ghost pain of locker collisions making his shoulder pang. “I just got to the end of what I could take. So, I followed him in the locker room to confront him. And… he kissed me.” Kurt’s eyes fill with tears. But he scrambles to continue before Blaine can say anything. “He’s closeted, I guess. But he kind of forced it on me. And that was my first kiss. Or at least, one that counted.”

Blaine frowns, looking almost ferocious in the flickering light. “God. I wish I could have been there. Protected you. Shit, this isn’t about me. But I just feel… so _angry_ that you had to go through that.”

“Me too,” Kurt says with a half-smile that doesn’t touch his eyes. “I feel like something important has been taken from me, you know?”

Blaine rubs his nose thoughtfully. “Didn’t you say in your letter that you kissed Brittany? Was that before this?”

“Well, yeah. But she doesn’t count. She’s a girl.”

“And you decided that, as you can’t be attracted to her, that it doesn’t count?”

“That’s what I just said,” Kurt points out mildly though he does feel a slight pang of irritation. What is Blaine’s point?

“Sorry. I feel like this is coming out wrong. I just mean that if you don’t count Brittany because she’s a girl, why would you count someone that assaulted you?”

Kurt opens his mouth. And shuts it again.

"I'm not saying it isn't awful. Of course, it is. I hate that that happened to you. I just mean… you can still have your wonderful, romantic first kiss. With someone that _really_ counts."

The fire is casting Blaine’s face in half shadow but his eyes, golden and warm, almost appear to glow in the half light. His face is surprisingly close, his hand still tangled up in Kurt's. Kurt's breath hitches.

"You think?' he whispers.

"I _know_ ," Blaine insists and suddenly he's right there, their noses brushing. “God, you’re so brave, Kurt. I can’t believe you went after him like that.”

“I’m not brave,” Kurt breathes, terrified of shattering the moment. “Not like you.”

Blaine laughs, a surprisingly bitter sound. “I’m not as put together as you think I am. When I had a chance to confront _my_ bullies, I ran, Kurt. You are so incredibly, wonderfully, brave.” Blaine’s free hand moves to cup Kurt’s chin gently. “You know… you can kiss me. If you want to,” he whispers, so soft that Kurt could pretend not to hear. Kurt doesn’t want to pretend.

Kurt didn’t realize how important it was until that moment, to be given the option of taking the lead. Of reclaiming something he feels was taken from him. It makes Kurt want to do it, even though he doesn’t know in what capacity Blaine is offering this. Kurt wants to do this for himself. He wants to have a first kiss that can count. That’s magical and romantic, bathed in the glow of a fire, under the stars and with a boy he really, deeply cares about. And who cares about him.

“OK,” he murmurs and leans in to brush their lips together. Blaine sinks into him, lips parting under Kurt’s as they work out how they fit. Kurt’s hand flutters uncertainly for a second before settling against Blaine’s cheek. Blaine moves against him, warm and so gentle, the hand on Kurt’s chin guiding rather than grabbing. It’s so different from the fear and disgust Kurt felt with Karofsky that he feels briefly close to tears again.

Almost as if Blaine senses it, he releases Kurt’s hand to wrap around his shoulders instead, almost protective, holding him close and Kurt forgets to be upset. He forgets to be _anything_ , instead losing himself in the sweet warmth of Blaine’s mouth and embrace. It’s so much more than his kiss with Brittany. It’s like the longer they kiss, the less it feels like it’s enough. He feels close to desperate, wanting everything but also content just to sit here wrapped up in Blaine for as long as he’s allowed to be there.

His hand finds Blaine’s hair, tugging gently and it’s the noise Blaine makes, low and wanting that makes Kurt pull back, a little overwhelmed. Blaine stares at him, slightly breathless, eyes dark in the dim light.

“So that’s what it’s like,” Kurt says, after a pause, laughing slightly.

“That’s what it’s like,” Blaine agrees, licking his lips seemingly unconsciously. “Um…” Blaine looks like he’s struggling to know what to say. “Sorry. I think I got a bit carried away.” He ducks his head, rubbing an absent hand through his curls.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Kurt says. “It was perfect.”

Blaine smiles. “Well, good.” He pauses, clearly hinging on saying something before minutely shaking his head. “I guess we should probably… go to bed. Separately. Yeah. It’s late.” Blaine is scattered and shy and Kurt feels a little smug about it.

“Yeah,” he whispers and takes Blaine’s hand as they walk back to the cabins, parting with a quick hug and soft smiles.

They don’t kiss again that summer, but Kurt feels okay with it. Their friendship is so precious to him that wanting anything more from it would seem almost greedy. Maybe they touch a little more than before, sit a little closer, talk a little more intimately. And when they say goodbye at the end of the summer, Blaine holds him like he’s never going to let go.

“Come back next year, OK?” Blaine insists.

“If you’re here? Where else would I want to be?”

_iii. or moonlight_

They talk even less that year. It’s Blaine’s first year at college and aside from an excitable letter extolling the virtues of LA, he’s depressingly silent. Kurt gets it. Blaine is building a new life in a new place and Kurt is just his summer friend.

Kurt finds himself counting the days down to going back to Camp Evergreen. Rachel is disappointed, hoping they could spend the summer settling into their own New York apartment where they’ll be going to college in the fall, but Kurt says something vague about wanting to earn some money to furnish said apartment and that seems to pacify her. There’s no way he’s missing out on summer with Blaine. Especially as it’s likely their summers are running out.

Blaine practically leaps into his arms on the first day of camp, excitable and talking a mile a minute, so fast that Kurt can’t even keep track. He just beams, holding Blaine close, drinking him in.

“Sorry,” Blaine says eventually, pausing for breath. “I really missed you.”

“I missed you, too. So much.”

*

The moment sneaks up on Kurt so suddenly that he doesn’t see it coming. Although he probably should have.

Everyone is around the campfire, the campers rowdy enough that Blaine is distracting some of them with a surprisingly intense game of Chubby Bunny. Kurt is trying to talk to Gwen, one of the other counsellors, but his eyes keep sliding over to watch Blaine goofing around with the kids.

“Come on, Blaine!” Theo, a boy barely higher than Blaine’s hip, shouts. “I bet my Hershey’s on you and Mattie is _eight_. You should have a bigger mouth than an eight year old!” He reaches out and none so gently shoves the marshmallow that Blaine is struggling with into Blaine’s mouth.

“Cheat!” chorus some of the kids and Blaine hesitates for a second before spraying half mushed marshmallow everywhere. It’s truly disgusting and Kurt can’t help but sympathize with the kids that shriek and dance away in response.

Blaine makes a noise like he's choking, and Kurt is half standing before he realizes Blaine is just laughing hysterically, mouth still full enough to muffle the sound. He opens his mouth wide and runs at the kids that had scattered, making them scream and scramble away.

“Ew, gross!”

Kurt can’t help the smiles that creeps onto his face as Blaine gives chase, giving them the run around for several minutes, carefully making sure everyone is included in the game, until he flops dramatically down onto the grass, apparently exhausted. Blaine finally swallows his mouthful. "I thought you _liked_ marshmallows?" he calls innocently.

"Not when it's been in your _mouth_ ," a small girl says very seriously, still keeping back a careful distance. "That's so unhygienic, Blaine."

Blaine laughs so hard that Kurt thinks he really will choke and Blaine glances over at Kurt and winks, face full of laughter and bathed in pale moonlight. _God, I love you_ Kurt thinks suddenly.

He sucks in a small breath. It’s his first time thinking that about anyone. In the romantic way, at least. He feels like there should have been some fanfare or fireworks or a grand gesture. But it’s just Blaine. Covered in half chewed marshmallow and silver light.

Blaine scrambles to his feet and comes over, sitting close despite the space on the bench, pressing their legs together. Kurt realizes belatedly that Gwen has gotten fed up with his inattention and gone to join another group. He doesn’t blame her.

“You OK? You look weird,” Blaine asks.

“Rude,” Kurt says on autopilot. “Just realizing something.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. That you’re an idiot.”

“Rude,” Blaine echoes but he grins, looking down at himself. “I’m pretty sure I should have grown out of this sort of nonsense by now.”

“I’m glad you haven’t,” Kurt says quietly. God, he wants to touch Blaine so badly, beyond even where they’re pressed together. It’s not a sexual need. Just the need to connect with the person he’s just realized he’s stupidly, head over heels in love with. He settles for reaching out to brush an errant curl from Blaine’s face.

Blaine’s answering smile is brighter than the moonlight.

_iv. or lantern light_

Kurt is nineteen and a virgin, a fact that bothers Santana far more than it bothers him. Santana has somehow moved into his loft and seems to think it’s her sole purpose in life to get him laid. Kurt doesn’t think it’s odd that he’s nineteen and has never had sex, nor does he feel particularly compelled to do something about it. He’s gotten over his sex aversion in theory, he's just not met anyone he’s particularly interested in doing it with.

The dates he’s been on have been pleasant enough, some have even led to second and third dates. But he never feels quite ready to take that plunge. Doesn’t feel that desire that one fairly tame kiss with Blaine had ignited in him.

But Blaine is in LA. Kurt is in New York. The logistics of that relationship alone would be a nightmare. Anyway, Kurt is pretty sure that Blaine doesn’t think of him like that. He’s had opportunities to say something if that’s how he feels. Of course, Kurt has had opportunities too, but he doesn’t factor that into his thinking. It’s easier to just believe that Blaine couldn’t want him in the same way.

They don’t even talk outside of camp. It’s not exactly the basis for a long-lasting relationship. Especially a long distance one. But, Kurt wishes it could be.

Going to Camp Evergreen that year, feels like going home a little bit. Santana and Rachel are incredulous that he's going at all.

“Have you not grown out of the baby camp by now, Hummel?” Santana demands.

“Don’t you need to spend the summer going to auditions?” Rachel points out.

Kurt ignores them. He has to see Blaine. This is where he sees Blaine. It’s perfectly rational and not at all ridiculous, _shut up_.

He steps off the Death Bus (still not replaced, three years later) and expects to be immediately set upon by Blaine like he always is. But Blaine isn’t there. Frowning, Kurt drags his stuff up to the cabins and finally finds Blaine, deep in conversation with a guy Kurt hasn’t met before.

“Blaine?” he shouts. Blaine is frowning slightly but his whole face clears and brightens at the sound of Kurt’s voice.

“Kurt!” Blaine looks so overjoyed that it takes the sting out of his bus side absence slightly. He bounds forward, pressing a surprising and fleeting kiss to Kurt’s cheek in greeting. “Um… come meet the new guy. Sebastian this is Kurt, the guy I was telling you about. Kurt, this is Sebastian. Sebastian is um… _new_.”

Sebastian and Kurt give each other a once over and each seem to find the other lacking, judging from Sebastian’s sneer and Kurt’s intense feeling of dislike.

“Nice to meet you,” he says anyway because Hummel men are always polite until given a reason to not be. Then they can be as rude as needed.

“Same,” Sebastian drawls, looking like it’s anything but. “So, are you two together or what? Blaine wasn’t very clear.” Kurt doesn’t miss the way Sebastian’s eyes linger on Blaine as he says this, the slow up and down drag of his gaze.

Blaine glances at Kurt and Kurt wishes he could have telepathic conversations. _Just say yes even if it’s not true. This guy is capital “T”, Trouble._ He projects this thought as strongly as he can. Blaine shrugs. “We’re just Kurt and Blaine,” he says like that’s all anyone needs to know on the matter.

 _Idiot_ , Kurt thinks.

“Interesting,” Sebastian says.

Kurt feels like it’s going to be a long summer.

*

Sebastian is there all the time. He flirts with Blaine outrageously. Blaine is somehow either oblivious to this fact or likes it enough to not put a stop to it. Maybe he just likes the attention. Maybe he actually likes _Sebastian_. Kurt had never factored Blaine falling in love with someone else into his very vague, admittedly more of a concept than a plan to 'get his man'.

He's still annoyed.

If Blaine _is_ interested in Sebastian, though, he doesn’t really do anything about it. He still seems a lot more content to spend time at Kurt’s side than anywhere else. He’s even taken to helping Kurt sort out the music room at the end of each day just so they can snatch some time alone together to talk and just be them. Kurt does wonder why Blaine doesn’t just tell Sebastian to back the hell off sometimes, but Blaine is such a people person, that it probably just doesn’t occur to him to tell someone to spend _less_ time with him.

It all sort of comes to a head not long before the end of the summer. Kurt is walking to the music room, to clear up and put the instruments away. He's passed the kids over to the night shift and is extremely grateful. They've exhausted him today and he just wants to finish his jobs and go get dinner with Blaine.

Even just thinking about Blaine makes him feel a little lighter and as he turns the corner, he actually sees Blaine up ahead, standing by his cabin, as if he's been summoned by pure thought. Kurt nearly shouts a greeting but bites it back when he sees that Blaine isn't alone.

Sebastian is with him, a hand on Blaine's chest, head tipped coyly. His body language screams intimacy between the pair and Kurt wonders if he's missed something. Blaine hadn't mentioned that he and Sebastian were anything more than friends but… would he? If it was new and fragile and precious? Kurt isn't sure.

He leaves them too it, backing up and looping the long way back around to the music room. If he hadn't already known he was in love with Blaine, it would be painfully apparent now. He feels completely crushed. He's so busy brooding that he jerks with fright when Blaine comes barreling into the room.

"Hey, Kurt!"

"Blaine! What are you doing here?"

Blaine looks confused. "I _always_ help you in here now, remember? So we can have _alone_ time." He waggles his eyebrows ridiculously. He's teasing and for some reason it's this that makes Kurt go from naught to sixty in the frustration stakes.

"Shouldn't you be with _Sebastian_." He doesn't bother to mask his contempt. Blaine could at least pick someone decent to be with. The fact he's chosen Sebastian feels like a personal attack on Kurt's character.

"No?" Blaine says, sounding confused. "Are you mad at me?"

Kurt rolls his eyes. God. Blaine really is dense at times. "Not mad. Just… frustrated."

"Hey." Blaine approaches Kurt slowly, like he's not sure it's allowed. "Talk to me, then. I don't like being at odds with you."

Kurt sighs. This is not the way he would have chosen to have this conversation. He would have picked a time when he felt less raw and more reasonable. "Why didn't you just tell me about you and Sebastian?" he asks eventually.

"What _about_ me and Sebastian?"

"Blaine, I _saw_ you. Just now. You don't have to lie to me."

"Kurt, if you literally mean like five minutes ago, what you saw was Sebastian trying it on and me brushing him off. That's all. I would never lie to you."

“But he was… touching you,” Kurt says uncertainly. Blaine steps forward, puts his hand on Kurt’s chest, lets his fingers brush very lightly over bare skin at the vee of the polo.

“I’m touching you. Are we sleeping together?”

Kurt is pretty sure he’s just gone scarlet. “No,” he says quietly. He resists the urge to press his hand over Blaine’s to keep it there.

“Then?” Blaine raises his eyebrows and then his face clears in understanding. “Wait…”

Kurt doesn’t like that _wait_ , he doesn’t like it one bit. “So, if you could just gather up the sheet music that would be really-”

“Am I detecting a hint of jealousy?” Blaine interrupts, his grin wide and eyes sparkling.

"Look, if you’re about to make fun of me, just don’t, OK?”

"Kurt,” Blaine moves closer still, his arms settling around Kurt’s shoulders. “I adore you but, God, are you being stupid right now."

" _I'm_ stupi-?" Is all Kurt can get out before Blaine's mouth is on his. He melts. He can't help it. It feels stupid to continue a fight when they could just be kissing instead. But. Wait.

"You _adore_ me?" Kurt asks shyly, pulling back only enough to speak.

Blaine smiles against his lips, his fingers trailing down Kurt’s cheek. “I do. You’re my absolute favorite.”

“Oh,” Kurt breathes and it’s only when he feels Blaine’s fingers tremble slightly against his face that he realizes he probably needs to say the obvious too. “I kind of adore you too.” 

“That’s a relief,” Blaine says, still so close that their noses are brushing. “There was a second of doubt when I thought I may have horribly misread the situation and it was actually me you were jealous of because you wanted Sebastian.”

This is so completely ridiculous that Kurt doesn’t have words for it. So he just kisses Blaine again.

*

By the time the end of summer rolls around, Kurt is no longer a virgin. It turns out Blaine is very good friends with the guys in his cabin and they don’t ask questions when he says he needs it to be empty for a few hours. The fact that they probably don’t _need_ to ask questions because it’s obvious what Blaine wants it for, Kurt doesn’t like to think about.

If Kurt had ever thought about his first time, he probably would have imagined a field of flowers and Taylor Lautner. It turns out that an uncomfortable single bed and the dim light of an electric lantern as the only source of illumination is just as perfect when you’re with the right person.

Blaine is gentle and slow and so loving that it makes Kurt’s chest ache with the pending loss of Blaine from his life once again. Afterwards, as if in answer to that thought, Blaine gathers Kurt in his arms and kisses him dizzy and says, “There is no way you’re not talking to me all year, Kurt Hummel.”

“Likewise, Blaine Anderson.”

“Kurt…” Blaine pauses, his hand curling over Kurt’s bare bicep. “I am absolutely crazy about you.”

“Good,” Kurt murmurs, his mouth finding Blaine’s again. “Because I am pretty stupid over you as well.”

Blaine hums, pulling Kurt on top of him, still somehow stunning in the unflattering glare of the artificial lamp. Kurt touches his face almost reverently, unable to help himself.

“How long until the others get back?” he whispers.

“I think we might have an hour still,” Blaine grins, lazy and soft and irresistible.

“Excellent. Plenty of time.”

“Plenty of time for what?” Blaine asks coyly and then groans when Kurt’s hand finds his dick.

*

If Kurt has any residual fear about he and Blaine being separated it’s pretty much disappeared by the time he gets back to New York. Blaine’s brother picked him up from camp and Blaine happily introduced Kurt as his boyfriend without batting an eye and proceeded to text Kurt at least a dozen times, just during the drive from the airport back to his apartment.

The long distance is hard but not quite as hard as Kurt feared. They determinedly make time for each other. They text constantly, skype when they can and have phone calls when they can’t. They finally get to see other again during Winter Break, with Blaine flying to New York and wrapping Kurt in a hug so tight that he lifts him off his feet.

“Careful,” Kurt laughs, balancing himself with a grip on Blaine’s shoulder.

Blaine doesn’t even seem to be listening, he’s holding Kurt close, his hands roaming down Kurt’s back, across his shoulders, touching anything that public decency allows.

“I missed you so much. I don’t ever want to be apart for that long again,” Blaine and he kisses Kurt right there in the middle of JFK.

*

“I’m not going back to camp,” Blaine says. They’re making the most of their few days alone in Kurt’s New York apartment until they’re both jetting off once again to spend Christmas with their families. They’re naked and spread-eagled across the bed, Kurt’s laptop set up to show some dumb Christmas movie that they are ignoring in favor of making out.

“I let you mooch off my Netflix and this is how you repay me?” Kurt sighs and Blaine laughs, nudging Kurt’s calf with his toes.

“You knew I wouldn’t be, right? I’m transferring for my final year at college and I need to spend the summer settling in.”

“I thought you might not be,” Kurt admits. He thinks of Camp Evergreen, where so many of his important moments had happened. Coming out, falling in love and everything in between. But really, it is just a place. Those memories are tied up in Blaine as much as the camp and they’ve had new firsts together since then. Saying ‘I love you’, talking to each other’s friends and family on skype and, with unbroken alone time on their hands, have moved beyond shy handjobs. 

It still makes Kurt a little sad. He would have liked to have said goodbye to the place. But going there without Blaine would just feel empty.

“Wait,” Kurt’s head snaps up. He’s clearly missed something. “You’re transferring?”

Blaine is beaming, eyes crinkled at the corners. He takes Kurt’s hand. “I heard NYU has a pretty killer theatre program.”

“You’re moving to New York?” Kurt demands, barely able to believe it.

“I’m moving to New York,” Blaine confirms and laughs when Kurt tackles him to the bed, kissing him all over his face.

“Move in with me?” Kurt asks. “In the summer. When you move. You should move in here.”

Blaine laughs softly. “There’s three people living in this loft and that’s already too many, sweetheart.”

Kurt sighs. He isn’t wrong.

“But…” Blaine says, cupping Kurt’s face in his hands. “If you still feel the same in six months, maybe we could find a new place. Together.”

Kurt’s smile is as wide as Blaine’s. “That sounds perfect.”

_v. or sunlight_

Kurt doesn’t exactly _want_ to send his sixteen-year-old daughter off to be a junior camp counsellor. He’ll miss her for one thing, despite her new found teenage girl sarcasm and an eye rolling habit that rivals his own. But he’s worried about her. And Camp Evergreen may look a little different these days, but he’s sure it’s heart is the same. If it helped him come out of _his_ shell, he’s sure it will help Tracy too.

“Dad, there’s not even any evergreen trees here. What a stupid name for a camp,” she whines as she exits the car. No Death Bus for his daughter. He and Blaine had decided to drop her off themselves. Mostly to make sure she’d actually get there. Kurt smiles.

“I thought that too, but just give it a chance, munchkin.”

Tracy predictably rolls her eyes as Blaine lifts her bags out of the car. The camp hasn’t changed much in the twenty years since Kurt had last set eyes on it. The afternoon sun is bathing the campsite in warm light, unobstructed by clouds. The lake shimmers gorgeously, almost turquoise in the light. The cabins have been done up and there’s a small fleet of new, brightly painted dinghies tied up at the dock but the layout and woods are unchanged.

Blaine’s arm settles over his shoulder and Kurt touches his nose to his husband’s cheek.

“Looks just the same doesn’t it?” Blaine asks quietly.

“You stood right there, with your guitar, the first time I saw you” Kurt says, pointing up the track slightly. “I think I fell in love with you from the moment I set eyes on you, actually. It just took me a little while to realize.”

“We got there in the end,” Blaine says fondly, lips brushing Kurt’s cheek.

“Can you two, just _not_ for like five seconds?” Tracy demands, watching them. “You’re abandoning your only daughter in the middle of nowhere for six weeks. You could have the decency to look a little cut up about it.”

“Oh. We are cut up,” Blaine says gravely.

“Very,” Kurt agrees and they share a fleeting smile.

“Bye then,” Tracy says sarcastically but Kurt can see the uncertainty behind her eyes. He pulls her into a hug.

“Bye, munchkin. You can call as much as you like, OK? For our benefit of course.”

“Don’t call me that,” Tracy mutters but clings for a moment longer than she normally would have.

“Bye, darling.” Blaine swoops in for his own hug, ruffling her hair and causing her to squawk in protest.

They watch as she picks her way down the dirt drive towards the cabins and is waylaid by other girl who grabs her violin from her and waves an expansive hand towards the lake.

“Looks like she’s going to be just fine,” Blaine assures, peering at Kurt’s face knowingly.

“It’s her first time away from us for longer than a week,” Kurt says, biting his lip. “What if she-?”

“What if she has an amazing time and meets the love of her life?” Blaine interrupts. “Because thus far, that’s what one hundred percent of our family have experienced at Camp Evergreen.”

“Hopefully she won’t wait three years to do something about it,” Kurt smiles, wrapping his arms around Blaine’s shoulders.

“Nah, she’ll have the job done before the summer’s out,” Blaine says. “She’s terrifyingly like Rachel in that regard. Very focused.”

“What a horrible thought,” Kurt laughs. He’s only joking. He adores that his daughter is a mixture of his best friend’s and husband’s absolute best bits with a unique quality all her own. Kurt looks at Blaine’s face, twenty years older but unmistakably the same face he fell in love with under the moonlight all those years ago. Curls now peppered with grey, smile lines in permanent residence around his mouth. Standing in the glorious sunshine, he’s just as handsome now as he was back then.

Kurt kisses him. “I love you so much,” he says softly.

“I love you too,” Blaine grins. “And there is one benefit to Tracy being here all summer, you know?”

“Yeah?” Kurt asks.

“Yeah. Having the house to ourselves.” Blaine grins mischievously.

Kurt laughs, pulling his husband back towards the car. “What are we waiting for, then? Let’s go home.”


End file.
